Aggregation is the new Search?

I did a post on Alltop and Web Content aggregation a while ago. With all the content on the Internet, most people don't knowing how and where to look for what they need. Google results brings in a whole lot of irrelevant results, at time further complicating matters. For the average browser aggregation could be a great solution.

I came across another such service called Social Rank, kind of a cross between Technorati and Alltop. What I found interesting was a rather aggressive take on the benefits of a aggregation site as apposed to good old fashioned searching (Google in this case). Have a look at their advertisement below, it actually makes sense. With blogs becoming an important source of information (and opinion), what does this mean for Search Engine?

Firefox - leading the way

Firefox 3 beta 5 (Get it)was released about 2 weeks ago, and I have been using it for the last 10 day or so. We all know Firefox is the best browser around, and seems like it will stay in the lead when it comes to developing 'must have' innovations.

Seth Godin recently made a post on 'Why downloading Firefox is like getting into college'. an interesting read!

Anyway, coming back to Firefox 3, it has a great new feature which I have wanted forever. I have a million bookmarks, which means I have to look for the saved link every time I want to access it. Shouldn't the address bar pick up your bookmarks, like it does your history? now it does! Mozilla has finally added this much belated feature to Firefox 3. Just like they did with tabbed browsing, spell checker integration, find (that actually works), live bookmarking, download manager, integrated search system with customizable search engines, and of course add-ons, Firefox again has set a standard for the industry.

A great feature, a great product, the only browser to use!

Dont be Evil, use Firefox!

Billions of Entrepreneurs

in reference to a previous post 'Shift Happens' an interesting interview with Tarun Kharnna entitled 'Billions of Entrepreneurs in China and India' has been published on the Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge portal.

Most of what is discussed here applies to Pakistan and other developing economies, with China and India being the flagships, leading the way.

Personal Branding

Seth Godin, happens to be someone who really understands marketing and has already stared to scare us old school brand managers about the times to come, the changes already happening, and where we are headed. He is leading voice changing marketing thinking. He also happens to be a great speaker, writes what is arguably the most popular blog in the entire world. A lot more can be said about him, but ill let you visit his site and find out for yourself.



For now, i'll stick to one of his recent posting Seth spoke about having too many choices, too little time and hence people making quick decisions and jumping to conclusions. this is as relevant to people as it is to products. It may be unfortunate, but that how it is, and therefore managing your personal brand becomes increasingly important.

The Internet adds a whole new dimension to personal branding. Increasingly employers 'Google' candidates and search profiles on Facebook (by the way, so does the police!). Try 'Googling' yourself, the result is what people may base their decision upon. Results may be inaccurate, irrelevant or worse, blank. It is your job to manage your brand, and the Google result may just be your advertisement.

iCompile

Site Aggregation seems to be an increasingly popular way of accessing information online. Content can be customized for home pages like igoogle or my yahoo, where you can add in widgets and plug in feeds sources of your choice.

However, wouldn't it be great if someone did that for you. Well, someone already thought of that. In case you haven't tried one out, check out the oldest popurls.com or the newest one around Alltop.com

Alltop has a rather interesting layout, and great content. In my excitement of having been almost Kawsakied (Jenny, the blogess finds it disturbing that I am using the term so loosely), I asked Guy how I could have a Pakistan Alltop section created. Be careful what you wish for, because he replied by saying, sure you can have one, just compile the feed for me. This isn't as easy as it sounds. But thanks to Alexa.com, some great people at Synergy Advertisment and Rabia Gharib I was able to gather a credible list of top Pakistani sites. Remove sites without RSS Feeds, add some based on personal bias... and there you have it.

Alltop Pakistan has been submitted! lets see when we go live!

Sell Yahoo, the big 'Guy' says so

I was going to do an in depth study on the Microsoft and Yahoo talks, look into the market dynamics of such a large acquisition, its impact on the Internet and mind boggling consequences. Should Yahoo sell out to Microsoft??? Consider the organizational culture, the work values ... and so much more HR mumbo jumbo.

So.. I was wondering if the bid by Microsoft is fair, will Microsoft dare a hostile takeover, should Yahoo even consider selling at any price?

I could either do a full on analysis and come to a conclusion, or ask the man himself, Mr.Guy Kawasaki. Surely he would have some insights. plus if he wrote back, would make one hell of a blog post (way better than a Microsoft/Yahoo story).

It was worth the try, cuz the big Guy wrote back (well 4 words really).

our exchange:

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Guy,

With the Microsoft & Yahoo buy out/hostile take over/merger/acquisition drama going on, how would you (if it wasn't for your "Bozosity") as CEO of Yahoo reacted?

Would you really be okay with selling off your company to Microsoft?

regards,

Atif Khan
Karachi, Pakistan
http://khanatif.blogspot.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------

from Guy Kawasaki
to Atif Khan ,
date Tue, Apr 8, 2008 at 8:15 PM
subject Re: What would CEO Kawasaki do?
mailed-by garage.com



For $46 billion? Absolutely.

Can I ask you to look at my new site? It’s an “online magazine rack” of popular topics such as politics, science, fashion, celebrities, Macintosh, etc. This one might be particularly interesting to you:

http://venturecapital.alltop.com/
http://smallbusiness.alltop.com/
http://startups.alltop.com/

All our topics are shown here:

http://alltop.com/

All the best to you,

Guy

-------------------------------------------------------------

Sure it was just 4 words (followed by a Alltop.com promo plug, cant blame him, he is a marketer)

But Guy Kawasaki wrote to me (I have almost been Kawasakied), and that makes one hell of a cool blog posting!

Conclusion: Sell Yahoo!

Shift Happens

Last night I was watching BBC's techshow Click. They always manage to have something interesting on their show, though usually it isn't part of the webscape segment (seem to make it a point to find rather unimpressive sites.)

The last episode covered broadband usage trends, primarily the low penetration due to high costs in the US. According to the BBC "In Manhattan people pay about $30 (£15) a month for a download speed of 3 megabits per second (Mbps) via a DSL line." On the other hand "In Japan you can get 100 megabits for $35."

The USA is the largest and most developed economy in the world, home to Microsoft, Apple and Google, However when it comes to certain technologies, many Asian and European markets have left the US far behind. This reminded me of a presentation I once stumbled across. I have managed to 'Google' out for you guys. I don't necessarily agree with all the intended implications this slideshow makes, but a lot of it can not be easily ignored.

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Life, Death and the stuff in between

Every now and then something you come across shakes you up, and forces you to phase out of the daily rut and reevaluate the greater scheme of things, look at the big picture and access where you are headed.

A recent event of such sort was the sudden media focus on Randy Pausch, a Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, who happens to be dying of Cancer. What really gets to you is the fact that this man is dyeing, and does not seem too upset about the whole deal. "If I don't seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you”, not too many of us can feel or act that way. Listen to his talk and you will figure out why he can.

A truly great talk with more food for thought than most of us may not be able to digest.